Bulgarian for Beginners

Bulgarian is a Southern Slavic language with approximately 12 million speakers in many
countries. Beyond Bulgaria, it is also spoken in but also in Turkey, Macedonia, Serbia,
Romania, Ukraine, Greece, and even Canada, USA, Australia, Germany and Spain.

Bulgarian was the first Slavic language to be written, starting in the 9th century using
the Glagolitic alphabet. That was gradually replaced by an early version of the Cyrillic
alphabet.

Part One - The Basics

Bulgarian is written in the Cyrillic alphabet. Modern Bulgarian Cyrillic has 30 letters:

А Б В Г Д Е Ж З И Й К Л М Н О П Р С Т У Ф Х Ц Ч Ш Щ Ъ Ь Ю Я

Letter

Name

IPA value

Approx. English sound"

А а

а

[ a ]

as a in English "far, father"

Б б

бъ

[ b ]

as b in English "bird"

В в

въ

[ v ]

as v in English "victory"

Г г

гъ

[ g ]

as g in English "go"

Д д

дъ

[ d ]

as d in English "delay"

Е е

е

[ ɛ ]

as e in English "pet"

Ж ж

жъ

[ ʒ ]

as s in English "vision"

З з

зъ

[ z ]

as z in English "zealot"

И и

и

[ i ]

as ee in English "need", as y in English "happy"

Й й

и кратко

[ j ]

as y in English "yes", "you"

К к

къ

[ k ]

as k in English "sketch"

Л л

лъ

[ l ], [ ɫ ]

as ll in English "fill", as l in English "blue"

М м

мъ

[ m ]

as m in English "meat"

Н н

нъ

[ n ]

as n in English "need"

О о

о

[ ɔ ]

as o in English "fork"

П п

пъ

[ p ]

as p in English "speak"

Р р

ръ

[ ɾ ]

as the Scottish r

С с

съ

[ s ]

as s in English "soap"

Т т

тъ

[ t ]

as t in English "stop"

У у

у

[ u ]

as oo in English "food"

Ф ф

фъ

[ f ]

as f in English "fast"

Х х

хъ

[ x ]

as ch in Scottish loch

Ц ц

цъ

[ ʦ ]

as ts in English "cats"

Ч ч

чъ

[ ʧ ]

as ch in English "cherry"

Ш ш

шъ

[ ʃ ]

as s in English "sure"

Щ щ

щъ

[ ʃt ]

ʃ + t"

Ъ ъ

ер голям

[ ɤ ]

as in English "bird"

Ь ь

ер малък

No phonetic value*"

Ю ю

ю

[ ju ]

as English "you", as ew in English "new"

Я я

я

[ ja ], [ jɤ ]

as ya in English "yard"

ь is used only after consonants and before о, where it marks palatalisation
of the consonant.

Bulgarian spelling can also employ vowels with grave accent to mark the stress (e.g. in
textbooks for foreigners), or to disambiguate some homographic or homophonic words (e.g.
па̀ра (steam) and пара̀ (old coin)). The 3p singular feminine personal pronoun should
always be spelled ѝ (и with grave) to disambiguate it from the conjunction и (and).
Unfortunately this character is present in only a few fonts, so on a computer people
usually type й or и.

Граматика / Grammar

The negative form of the verb "съм" (to be) is formed by adding the negative particle
"не" bofore the verb:

аз не съм

I am not

ти не си

you are not (sg.)

той не е

he is not

тя не е

she is not

то не е

it is not

ние не сме

we are not

вие не сте

you are not (pl.)

те не са

they are not

But you don't need obligatorily from a subject in each sentence. You can say: Аз съм от
България, but you can also say: От България съм. You can miss "аз" but to do that you
have to put the object before the verb. "Ние сме тук." or "Тук сме." "Те са добре." or
"Добре са."

In Bulgarian there are three genders (such as in Russian or German): masculine (мъжки
род), feminine (женски род) and neuter (среден род). Every word has a gender and there
are some rules for their determinations:

Words from masculine end usually in a consonant, or in Й:• мъж (a man), вълк (a wolf), филм (a film), герой (a hero), живот (a life)
But there are some words that end in –A or –О:• баща (а father), чичо (an uncle), дядо (a grandfather), съдия (a judge) etc…

Решения / Solutions

After you've done the exercises you can check whether your answer is
correct using the following solutions:

Solution of Exercise A:Translation:Anton: Hello, what is your name?Maria: Hello. I am Мария.Anton: I'm okay. What is your name?Maria: Мария. How are you?Anton: I'm well. How are you?Maria: I am well too. Where are you from?Anton: From Russia. You're from Bulgaria, right?Maria: Yes. Nice to meet you.

Граматика / Grammar

In Bulgarian language there isn't any difference between 'present simple' or '
present continuous" so when you say "отивам" you can translate it as
"I go" or "I'm going".пиша – I write or I'm writingвсеки ден (m) – every dayписмо (n) – a letter (post)

Пиша всеки ден.

I write every day.

Пиша писмо сега.

I'm writing a letter right now.

In Bulgarian language there are three conjugations of the verbs. Now we are going to
consider the third conjugation.

The verbs from the third conjugation end usually in –ам or –ям. Look up these examples:

You have to remove the ending "-ам" or "ям" from the verb and then to put the following
endings:

имам – to have

аз им + ам = аз имам

I have

ти им + аш = ти имаш

you have

той им + а = той има

he has

ние им + аме = ние имаме

we have

вие им + ате = вие имате

you have

те им + ат = те имат

they have

отивам – to go

аз отив + ам = аз отивам

I go

ти отив + аш = ти отиваш

you go

той отив + а = той отива

he goes

ние отив + аме = ние отиваме

we go

вие отив + ате = вие отивате

you go

те отив + ат = те отиват

they go

искам – to want

аз иск + ам = аз искам

I want

ти иск + аш = ти искаш

you want

той иск + а = той иска

he wants

ние иск + аме = ние искаме

we want

вие иск + ате = вие искате

you want

те иск + ат = те искат

they want

сменям – to change

аз смен + ям = аз сменям

I change

ти смен + яш = ти сменяш

you change

той смен + я = той сменя

he changes

ние смен + яме = ние сменяме

we change

вие смен + яте = вие сменяте

you change

те смен + ят = те сменят

they change

When the verb ends in "-ам" you must to add: "-ам" "-аш" "-а" "-аме" "-ате" "-ат"
When the verb ends in "-ям" you must to add: "-ям" "-яш" "-я" "-яме" "-яте" "-ят"

The negative form is formed by adding the particle "не" in front of the verb:аз не отивам - I'm not going (or just Не отивам)ти не сменяш - You don't change (or just Не сменяш)

As you see in the text Maria says: "Отивам до библиотеката" which means: "I'm going to
the library".

"Библиотека" means "a library" This word is feminine (because it
ends in –A) and its definite form is formed by adding "-та"… All
words that are feminine form get their definite form by adding "-та":

библиотека (a library) but:библиотеката (the library)

Indefinite

Definite

жена (a woman)

жената (the woman)

работа (a work)

работата (the work)

помощ (help)

помощта (the help)

This rule is observed even in feminine words ending in a consonant…

btw: the definite form of the word: "домашна работа" (a homework) isn't "домашна работата", but "домашната работа"
because when there is an adjective in front of the noun the ending is put on it… I will explain this later.

Exercise C: Translate the following sentences:
1) I'm looking for the car.
2) Where is the woman?
3) I have a table.
4) I want an apple.
5) What kind of notebook do you want?
6) Do you have any work?

Решения / Solutions

Solution of Exercise A:Translation:Антон: Hello again.Мария: Hello.Антон: Where are you going?Мария: I’m going to the library.Антон: Why?Мария: I have work there.Антон: What work?Мария: I have geography homework and I’m looking for information about Russia.Антон: Do you want any help?Мария: With pleasure.

Here it is sort of an exception, but not exactly. In this group there are only verbs
ending in -а, which have Ж, Ш or Ч just before it.

Unfortunately, not all the verbs that end in -жа, -ша and -ча are here.
Here are around 10-15 verbs in second conjugation which end in -a:влача, въ рша, греша, държа, мълча, пуша, служа, суча, суша, тежа, уча, харча, хвърча, пържа

Again we remove the ending -a to add the other endings for different persons:Единствено число1.-а2.-иш3.-и

When we have sentences with "to be" and the subject is mentioned, the personal pronouns
have to be put after the verb (Ти си с мен), but if the subject isn't mentioned, the
personal pronouns in Acc. or in Dative have to be put before the verb (С мен си – You are
with me)

The short forms are used more often than the long forms. As a rule their position is in
front of the verb. Sometimes, though, they appear after the verb because they cannot
appear in clause-initial position. The position of the long forms is after the verb:

Аз те питам. Питам те. Аз пи там те бе.I (am) ask(ing) you.

Аз ти говоря. Говоря ти. Аз гово ря на тебе.I (am) speak(ing) to you.

In Dative

Nom

Dat. long f.

Dat. short f.

аз

на мен(е)

ми

ти

на тeб(е)

ти

той

на него (нему – archaic form)

му

тя

на нея (ней – archaic form)

й

то

на него (нему – archaic form)

му

ние

на нас (нам –archaic form)

ни

вие

на вас (вам – archaic from)

ви

те

на тях (тям – archaic form)

ги

Аз ти говоря. Говоря ти. Аз говоря на тебе.I (am) speak(ing) to you.

The short forms and the long forms are identical in meaning. The long forms for the
dative case are considered archaic, so the complex forms are used instead. The forms for
the accusative case are used with transitive verbs that have been used transitively. The
forms for dative case are used with intransitive verbs or with transitive verbs that have
been used intransitively (be aware that in one language a verb may be transitive, and in
another language the same verb may be intransitive!):

Аз питам тебе, не него.I (am) ask(ing) you, not him.

Аз питам за тебе.I (am)ask(ing) about you.

Аз вървя към тебе.I (am) walk(ing) towards you.

The short forms for the dative case substitute only the complex form, i.e. the
combination of the preposition "HA" + the long form for the accusative. Combinations of
other prepositions and the long form for the accusative cannot be substituted by the
short form for the dative case, neither can the short forms appear after prepositions
(there are some exceptions but we'll not go into such details). Here are some examples:

Аз говоря на него. Аз му говоря.I (am) talk(ing) to him.

Аз говоря за него.I (am) talk(ing) about him.

Sometimes both the long form and the short form can appear in the sentence, and they
refer to one and the same object:• Казаха ми, че Николова е в отпуск по майчинство.• А на мене ми казаха, че е в командировка.• I was told that Nicolova was on maternity leave.• And I was told that she was on a business trip.

Sometimes the short forms of the personal pronouns appear alongside the noun or the noun
phrase they refer to. The reason for this is that it is not always clear which is the
subject and which is the object of the sentence. This happens when the structure of the
sentence is inverted, i.e. the object appears in sentence-initial position:

In the example above the object is in sentence-initial position because the situation is
not typical (you can hardly expect a cat to attack a dog, rather the opposite). But the
sentence-initial position is typical for the subject, not for the object of the sentence.
And here comes in the short form for the accusative (or the dative) of the personal
pronoun. It is added right after the noun it refers to and thus it shows its role in the
sentence - the role of an object. Such construction is impossible in English - you either
have to stick to the straight word order (i.e. "subject predicate object"), or you have
to use passive voice if you want to keep the dog in sentence-initial position.

To form the imperative form of any verb, you should take the form for the 1st person sg.
present tense and remove the personal ending:вървя (to walk) - върв-мисля (to think) – мисл-стоя (to stay) – сто-пия (to drink) – пи-идвам (to come) – идва-
…

If the stem ends in a consonant, you have to put these endings:-и (for 2.sg.)-ете (for 2.pl.)

върв-и! – go! (for 2.sg.)върв-ете! – go! (for 2.pl.)

мисл-и! - think! (for 2.sg.)мисл-ете! – think! (form 2.pl.)

The stress is always on –и and -ете

If the stem ends in a vocal, you have to put these endings:
-й (for 2.sg.)-йте (for 2.pl.)

Exercise A: Translate the following sentences into Bulgarian:
1) Learn with me!
2) Come to me. (the Bulgarian verb here is "дойда")
3) This boy is friend of mine. (here "of mine"="Dative form to "аз")
4) He learns in Varna. (Varna (Варна) is a town in Bulgaria)
5) This is a room.
6) Do you have any problems with us?
7) What are you doing in this room?
8) We learn in this school.

Граматика / Grammar

The articles -ът and -ят are called complete articles and are used only when the noun is a subject in the sentence!!!!
The articles -a and -я are called incomplete articles and are used in all other cases.

Examples:Мъжът пазарува. – The man is going shopping.Давам книгата на мъжа. – I’m giving the book to the man.

In the first sentence "the man" (мъжът) is the subject (he
is going) but in the second sentence "the man" (на мъжа) is in Dative, so the
incomplete article is used. Always, when in front of the masculine noun there is a
preposition, it takes the incomplete article. (от магазина, на магазинера,
при мъжа)

Normally in the colloquial language, people pronounce only the incomplete article in all
cases. So, you probably ask yourselves why do I torture you by introducing this rule.
It is important for the written language. Plus, sometimes the meaning of the sentence
might not be clear if we can't tell the subject from the direct compliment.

Endings:
Some nouns take the articles -я or -ят – these are the nouns which end in -тел, -ар, -й

The form for masculine nouns in Accusative and Dative "когото" and "на когото" are used
only if the subject is an animate (man, teacher, fireman). The forms "който" and "на
който" are used if the subject is an inanimate (bread, computer…)

This is the man, who I see every day. – Това е мъжът, когото виждам всеки ден.This is the bread, which I eat. – Това е хлябът, който ям.

Be careful with the prepositions. In Bulgarian there are always placed in front of the pronoun:с която, при когото, на което…

And one more thing. You have to agree the relative pronouns with the gender of the nouns…Look at this: This is the child who is playing outside. – това е детето, което играе навън.This is the letter which I’m writing. - Това е писмото, което пиша.
The relative pronouns in the both sentences are "което" , because both the child, and the letter are neuter (It’s not important if the noun is animate or inanimate)

In the dictionaries the adjectives are given in their masculine forms. singular. To make
such constructions as "he is good", or "the car is fast" you have to agree the adjective
with the gender of the noun:

Be careful with the definite article, which is added to the possesive pronouns, for the
long forms, and to the noun for the short forms!!!
☛ мое+то дете, but дете+то ми (the definite article for
neuter is "-то", and child is neuter)

Exercise B: Translate these sentences into Bulgarian:
1) He is seeing his wife.
2) My sister is listening to music in my room.
3) Our dog is very good.
4) Is this the book that you read?
5) The boy is coming out of the house (house = къща)
6) The man is giving me his book.
7) I’m giving the man my book.
8) Where is the bread?
9) Your child is beautiful.
10) Who is the man, who your mother is talking with?

Решения / Solutions

Solution of Exercise A:Translation:
Maria is walking through the town and is listening to music. She is seeing Anton who is
going into a shop. The shop is big. She is going into it too:Marian: Hello, Anton. What are you doing here?Anton: Hello, Maria. I'm going shopping. I need some bread.
The shopkeeper is going and bringing the bread to Anton.
The shopkeeper: The bread today is very delicious.
Anton is taking it and putting it into the bag.Anton: How much does the bread cost?
The shopkeeper answers:
- 75 stotinki.
Anton is gives them to the shopkeeper and together with Maria goes out of the shop.